4017 Days

It really doesn't sound like a lot, does it ... 4017 days!
But, that's how many days Matt and I have been married!

11 years ago at 9:00am we got married in the Salt Lake Temple.
573 weeks ago at 11:30am we were at Cowboy Grub for lunch.
96,408 hours ago at 2:00pm we were preparing for our reception.
5,784,480 minutes ago at 6:00pm we celebrated w/friends & family.
347,068,800 seconds ago at 8:00pm we were on our honeymoon.

What else happened September 27, 1996?

• Princess Iman bint Al Abdullah II was born.
• In Afghanistan, the Taliban captured the capital city of Kabul, after driving out President Burhanuddin Rabbani and executing former leader Mohammad Najibullah.

What was the world like then?

• Bill Clinton was President
• There were no iPods
• 9/11 had not happened
• It had been two months since the bombing at the Summer Olympics in Atlanta (which I watched in Matt's basement)
• Princess Diana was still alive, and recently divorced
• O.J. Simpson trial was about to begin
• Nearing the 1996 Presidential Election where Bill Clinton would begin his second term
• Ninetendo 64 was released that summer
• No Google?! (which is 9-years old today)

"Time, which changes, does not alter the image we retain of it." - Marcel Proust

Ditto That!

In my elementary years the well-behaved "teachers pet" children were sometimes chosen to take that days assignment down to the library where the librarian would assist the child in making "dittos" on the "Ditto Machine". I never got to do this, but I always wanted to! I remember helping to pass out the warm papers with the purple-blue writing, that were also a little damp.

I love reading on Wikipedia, despite controversy that they are not always accurate, and I find all that linked information fascinating. Click, click, click!

Wikipedia tells me that Ditto Machines were a "low-volume printing method used mainly by schools and churches" and that the purple-blue writing is actually called "aniline purple".

One day, probably in Middle School, I realized that my assignments were no longer aniline purple, but black. Somewhere in the back of my head, I wondered what had happened to the Ditto Machine! And I wondered why the kids were sent to get copies instead of to "go make dittos".

Wikipedia instructs that few Ditto Machines were being used by 1985. That was nearing the end of my elementary years, and sounds just about right!

One last thing to mention .... the smell! Wikipedia reminds us that "the aroma of pages fresh off the Ditto Machine was a memorable feature of school life for those who attended in the ditto machine era. A pop culture reference to this is to be found in the film Fast Times at Ridgemont High. At one point a teacher hands out a dittoed exam paper and every student in the class immediately lifts it to his or her nose and inhales."

Breath deeply! To quote Nellie Furtado, "Why do all good things come to an end?"

I Number Months

Speaking with my good friend Joellen, I told her how much I enjoyed my drive to work this morning. It was wet and cool; the mountains were slightly cloud-covered, and I could see the snow on the top and the orange leaves on the bottom. For me, fall is finally here!

I told Joellen that I was excited because we are currently in my "Number 4" favorite-month-of-the-year. Yes, I am a geek, and I number my months. So, here for your entertainment are Charnae's favorite-months-of-the-year, numbered:

FAVORITE: October
2. November
3. December
4. September
5. May
6. June
7. April
8. July
9. August
10. March
11. February
LEAST FAVORITE: January

_____________________

Cute Matt said to me last night, "It's 8:00 and it's already dark outside; wake me up in 6-months!" One great difference between Matt and I is that we enjoy different months. However, we both agree on the placement of numbers 10, 11, and 12!

Pen vs. Pencil

I like pens.

At work today, I had someone ask to borrow a pencil. I didn't have one, and told them that I had a pen, but they refused it! I was really surprised. If only a pencil were available, and I needed a writing utensil right at that moment, I would use it temporarily. But it got me thinking about our preferences ...

Pencils are kind of creepy to me, making a scratching sound as I write. The words never look sharp and clear because the edges of the letters get smudged everywhere, and if I do a lot of writing the lead seems to smear lightly across the page, making it cloudy. Eventually the cloud of lead transfers to my skin, making a shiny gray circle on my hand. I just don't like it.

My co-worker told me that she makes too many mistakes, and must have a pencil. I never make mistakes. (Yeah, right.) No really, I would rather cross-out something, or write-over my spelling error five times until I've almost written-through the page! I would rather do that, than write with a pencil. But, I would still never refuse a pencil in desperation.

Being an Executive Assistant, and a frequent orderer of office supplies, I believe that the "Pen Preferring People" out-number the "Pencil Preferring People". I have bought MANY boxes of pens during 2007 for my team; I can't give you a number of how many. I bought ONE box of pencils, and I was curious, so I just went and looked inside.

It appears my box of one dozen pencils has turned into a bakers dozen! Either they are having babies, or someone decided to join the "Pens Team".

Old Movies

I am an old movie fanatic! Although born in 1975, I could tell you the names of actors/actresses from 1930-1960 better than I could tell you current ones.

Anyhow, here is an extremely DIFFICULT old movie quiz that I created for a team activity at work last year. If you feel up to the challenge, see if you can answer one! Or ten! I'll put the answers in a later post!

1. What color of dress did Julie Marsden (Bette Davis) wear to the Olympus Ball that she attended with Preston Dillard (Henry Fonda) in the 1938 movie "Jezebel"? Red
2. What is the name of the book that Lucy Muir (Gene Tierney) and the ghost of Captain Greg (Rex Harrison) write together in the 1947 movie "The Ghost & Mrs. Muir"? Blood and Swash
3. While Glenn Morley (Joseph Cotton) and Katrin Holstrom (Loretta Young) are ice skating in the 1947 movie "The Farmer's Daughter", what two people are watching them through the window, making bets as to whether Glenn will fall through the ice? Agatha Morley (Glenn's mom played by Ethel Barrymore) and Clancy (the butler played by Charles Bickford)
4. Mary Rafferty (Greer Garson) becomes a maid in the home of steel mill owner Paul Scott (Gregory Peck) in the 1945 movie "The Valley of Decision". What is her profession at the end of the movie? A Dressmaker
5. What item of Edie Doyle's (Eva Marie Saint) does Terry Maloy (Marlon Brando) hold in his hand while talking with her on the playground swing set in the 1954 movie "On The Waterfront"? A Glove
6. What do reporters Joe Bradley (Gregory Peck) & Irving Radovich (Eddie Albert) present to Princess Ann (Audrey Hepburn) at the end of the 1953 movie "Roman Holiday"? Pictures of her visit to Rome
7. Ellie Andrews (Claudette Colbert) eludes her father and goes on the run with reporter Peter Warne (Clark Gable) in an attempt to reunite with her husband of whom her father disapproves in the 1934 movie "It Happened One Night". What is Ellie's husband's name? King Westley
8. Sugar Kane (Marilyn Monroe), Josephine (Tony Curtis), and Daphne (Jack Lemmon) are all members of the all-girl band, Sweet Sue's Society Syncopator's in the 1959 movie "Some Like It Hot". What musical instrument does Sugar Kane play? Ukulele
9. Wealthy socialite Angela Vickers (Elizabeth Taylor) falls in love with George Eastman (Montgomery Clift), a poor man working in his rich uncle's family business in the 1951 movie "A Place In The Sun". What is the name of the novel that the movie was based on? An American Tragedy
10. Allen Quinton (Joseph Cotton) writes love letters to Victoria Remington (Jennifer Jones) for his fellow soldier, Roger Morland, who has no talent for writing in the 1945 movie "Love Letters". Allen later learns of their marriage, Roger's mysterious death, and eventually meets Victoria who has amnesia and is going by what name? Singleton

Techno Music

During my high school years I was very into Techno music. What I considered Techno was KMFDM, The Grid, Machines of Loving Grace, and The Shamen.

One time while I was shopping at Media Play (ha, ha), some guy gave me a CD and told me this was "real techno". I was interested, bought it, and went home and listened to Kraftwerk. Hmmm. Not really something I wanted to listen to more than once. (Thinking back, I don't know if I ever even listened to it that once .... maybe on fast speed.)

Thank goodness for iTunes! Since I've been able to find my music on iTunes, I can tell you that KMFDM is Rock, The Grid is Dance, Machines of Loving Grace is Alternative, and The Shamen is Pop. And Kraftwerk? It's Electronica.

So, what is Techno? Well, nothing in iTunes is listed as Techno.

Maybe Strong Bad tells it best ...

A Blog About Blogs

Every day I think, "You really need to add another blog because your Bollywood obsession is the only thing people will see if they explore!" And yet each day passes without another entry.

So, I decided to write a quick blog about blogs! I have had a lot of fun lately looking up other people's blogs. I especially like that I can go to my profile, click on my interests and find lists of other people just like me!

So, if you ran across my blog because you are interested in Halloween, tennis, Mormons, or any one of the things that make up who I am ... or by whatever means you happened by .... WELCOME!

I will try to be more entertaining and insightful in the future.
But probably not as entertaining as this guy ...

Budding Interests

It's silly, but I am currently addicted to Bollywood movies!

My new obsession started slowly. A couple years ago I watched Bend It Like Beckham, and not too long after I watched Bride & Prejudice, both directed by Gurinder Chadha.

More recently I started looking into movies starring Aishwarya Rai, which led me to Dhoom 2. Anyhow, watching Dhoom 2 led me to Dhoom, Kabul Express, and last night I watched Veer-Zaara. It's official; I am hooked!

Obsessed? I actually bought Dhoom 2. Hrithik Roshan is an amazing dancer! I downloaded the soundtrack from Dhoom and Dhoom 2 from iTunes, and am going to see if they have the soundtrack for Veer-Zaara tonight. I also have two new movies on hold through my local Ruth V. Tyler Library. One is called Kabhi khushi kabhie gham and the other is Lakshya. I'm hoping for some more Hrithik dancing! (See You Tube Video below.)





Where do I go from here? I guess my obsession will continue until I get tired of the dancing, or my eyes start to hurt from reading the TV. I'll keep you posted!

Interesting thing about Bollywood movies: About 5-10% of the movie is in English. They throw English words or sentences in here and there. It's crazy to be reading along, and then realize they actually said what was written on the screen! My favorite is in Dhoom, when ACP Jai Dixit says "jail, sweet, jail". Also, Dhoom has one song where they sing in Hindi, English, and Spanish. Trippy!

Funny thought: I think I will fall over if Heather is watching Bollywood movies. We seem to pick up the same unusual hobbies at the same time, unbeknownst to the other!

Second language: Do you think if I watch/read enough movies, I'll start to understand/speak Hindi?